Last days

We're quickly approaching the end of our sabbatical. Only TWO more days here in Maui. Here's an update on our last week:
Did a hike around the Haleakala volcano which is up at 10,000 feet in Maui. Then headed over to Oahu and celebrated Ryan's 31st at a super fun Ween show. Later we went up to the North Shore in Oahu to check out some of the gigantic surf and pantless Japanese. Back to Maui where we are now...seeing whales again everyday, same old same old. Ry tried to catch some waves but got eaten at Ho'okipa break. Meghan had more luck on the boogie board on the south shore. She has also satisfied her cat craving with a towel! Going to check out some more sights tomorrow and then celebrating St. Paddy's day Aloha style (whatever that means). Looking forward to being home soon.

Love,
Meghan and Ryan

Storytime!

Ryan says I shouldn't tell stories until I have a trilogy, but what do I care? He's so old and feeble now, I ain't scared. So, here are my two favorite stories from Hawaii:

Oahu, HI: So we went to Waimea Bay in the North Shore today to check out big wave surf. After being warned by the lifeguards that the water was unsafe, three Japanese dudes decided to swim (drown) in triple-overhead waves. One of the guys really started struggling and just as the lifeguard was going in for him, he starts staggering up the shore --- birth naked!! I guess the waves ripped off his trunks. Everyone on the beach (including his friends and the lifeguard) were dying laughing. What's a naked dude to do? Continue to run around wildly whilst holding his junk in his hand until a hairy, overweight stranger swaddles him in a towel, of course!

Maui, HI: We were beginning our mountain hike when we happened across a family --- mom dad and two young boys. As we approached and said hi, the older brother yells "My brother just lost his FIRST TOOTH!!" Aw, that's nice, right? We smile and keep going when the brother continues to yell "Yeah, he was bending over taking a POOP and his tooth FELL OUT!! Ahahaha!" The little brother was standing there blinking in silence, all shell-shocked. The poor kid is scarred for life. He's going to think every time he takes a crap, teeth will fall out. No picture...you're welcome.

The End.
- Meghan

Happy bday to me

Hooray! I'm older today. What better way to spend a bday than unemployed and hanging out in hawaii. Kind of like last year, only more unemployed.

Mega and I just left maui and are back in waikiki. We spent the last couple of days in hana, which is eastern maui and really far from the resort area (although tourists still invade in mid-day). I managed to pick up some chest high surf on friday, but the swell died after that. We hiked up to a gigantic waterfall yesterday, through a bamboo forest and then swam around by ourselves in an unmarked river-falls-pool. I broke open a coconut on a rock. Yay!

Also good was the snorkeling around hana. While meghan tanned and toiled, I explored a reef shelf in hamoa bay. The water was really clear and I saw turtle, eel, a giant fish, a fish fight, and a bunch of other fish. Also a plankton. Meghan saw a whale.

I also developed the underwater camera film from diving the great barrier reef. .

Oh yeah, I have been trying to figure out what makes up maui culture. Here are some

clues:

1. Creepy burned out cars on the side of the road everywhere
2. 4wd's jacked up real high
3. Onions
4. The power plant that runs on burning sugar cane
5. Some kind of surfing influence (shaka people when cutting them off in traffic)

Overall I think maui is our favorite island. No joke its awesome. Shaka Laka!!

-Ryan








p.s. happy birthday soon ross...

maui - hana photos continued

Here are more photos from hana.

some great barrier reef photos

Here are some old pictures from australia's great barrier reef underwater camera - where Ryan scuba'd. Woo!

Whales, whales, whales

So we are continuing to see whales every day in Maui! It's starting to get a bit predictable...go to the beach, see a whale; look out at the ocean, oh, it's another whale breaching, ho hum.
In addition to whale spotting we've hit lots of beaches, went on a nice hike with a pretty overlook, and played 9 holes of golf at Kahului's gorgeous municipal course.
We've decided to spend a couple nights in Hana which is a very quiet town here and close to a great waterfall hike we are planning. Then we head back to O'ahu for 4 nights and plan to finally make it to Pearl Harbor and Diamond Head crater...also will be catching another Ween show...this one on Ryan's birthday! Then back to Maui for 5 more days of whaling and exploration. Whoooo! SPRING BREAK 08!!

Lots of love,
Meghan and Ryan

Maui Wowie!!

Hey there, blogfans. One technical update: seems we had a spammer on our blog, so we are now moderating comments. Which means if you don't immediately see your comment appear, don't fret, once we approve it it will be posted.
We're here in the USA (sorry, not contiguous, Seth) in beautiful Maui. We arrived 3 days ago after a couple days in Oahu and have decided to extend our vacation by 2 weeks! Whoooooooo-hoo!!! So far we've seen whales EVERY day here in Maui and visited a couple of beautiful waterfalls (we even got a picture of a shaka-flashing sasquatch at one!) and lava beaches. Going to take a break from beaching today and do some hiking and golfing.
Aloha,
M&R